Revelstoke city councillors and the mayor are skeptical that the projected budget to improve traffic safety at two elementary schools will cover actual costs.

It's hard to vote against because of the school safety aspects, said Coun.Tim Palmer.

The idea is to change the design of the roads, sidewalks and signs around Columbia Park and Arrow Heights schools. The plans for Columbia Park also include upgrades to the storm sewers.

"I'm very skeptical of the financial aspect," Palmer said, ultimately being the sole vote against the motion to approve the plans and put the projects to tender.

During the last council meeting on May 24, the city's finance director Tania McCabe recommended councillors authorize two million dollars of debt to go ahead with the plans, which they did.

Steve Black is the head of infrastructure and planning. He said part of the work to create the plan for these projects included putting cameras in the sewers at Columbia Park. They saw the sewers need to be replaced. So the city will do that work, including changes to the storm sewers that fit with the traffic safety plan.

The budget to upgrade the sewers, for example, isn’t included on the projection for the traffic safety plans, Black explained.

This year's budget didn’t include money for these projects. The plan is for the city to apply for funding now that councillors authorized the debt. It should take half a year to secure funding, they will put out a tender after that and then bring it back to council.

Right now they're planning to put out one tender for both schools, hoping that makes it come in cheaper, Black said. If it turns out it's better to do two tenders, they'll do that.

Also at the council meeting on Tuesday night, councillors approved the draft version of the new Official City Plan. The next step is a public hearing on July 12.

Check out the link below for a StokeFM report from council that aired June 15, 2022: